As means of communication improve, users of communication devices connected in a network have an increased ability to consume multimedia content over the network. This disclosure relates generally to improved means of network access to media objects related to musical works.
Modern communication networks are typically hierarchical transmission networks with multiple layers of transmission protocols. A transmission network is a system that allows two or more transceivers to exchange data, whereas a transmission protocol is a sequence of standard interactive steps that facilitate the exchange. Typically, the lowest level protocols are more concretely tied to the interaction of physical circuitry, whereas higher levels of protocols are more abstract to facilitate higher level processing at an algorithmic level. For example, in the vernacular “the web,” also known as “the Internet,” has become shorthand for a multi-layer computer communications system, which combines higher level protocols for access, mid-level protocols, such as a means of locating resources available on the network through a system of uniform resource locaters (URLs), and low-level hardware protocols which control the exchange of large, uneven blocks of data by breaking them into smaller, standardized packets. Users seek improved means to locate and consume musical works on the Internet, and to share information concerning those works with other users, without the burden of managing lower-level protocols or learning new programming languages.
Users communicating over a network typically use a physical device, such as a telephone, a text messenger, a cell phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a networked music/video player, a personal computer, or a public terminal, to interconnect with service providers and other users on the network. A typical network user utilizes a number of application programs to create or consume content on the network. Example application programs include a “media object player,” a “music player”, and a “browser”.
A browser is an application program that is generally intended to display “web pages.” A web page is typically a two-dimensional image appearing as an individual page of information including one or more types of contained media. This multimedia content appears in a virtual book format, which typically is displayed as an individually framed “web page” along with means for navigating to other related web pages. The multimedia content may be directly perceived on the web page or may be indirectly accessible. Directly perceived content on the page may include displayed images, videos, or a media object player rendered within the image of the page. Examples of indirect access include access through a pop-up window, through an auxiliary media object player program, or access provided through a link to the location of another page. Many web pages incorporate one or more “hot links.” The hot link enables a content consumer to access another web page or another application by using a pointing device to locate and click on the link.
A media object player is typically a software program on a computer including a user interface for perceiving a media object. Examples of stand-alone media object players include Microsoft's Windows Media Player®, Apple Inc.'s QuickTime®, and Real Networks Inc.'s RealPlayer®. A typical media object player is able to render various forms of media content, including audio recordings, video recordings, and compressed recordings.
A networked media object player may also be implemented as a combination of software routines for network access and a dedicated hardware device, with one or more rendering components included in the hardware device. Examples include Sansa's Connect® player, the Sony Network Walkman®, and Microsoft's Zune® player. Network users who are media object consumers frequently purchase audio and video media objects online for their portable players.
In the last 20 years, the music distribution industry has evolved. Formerly, a consumer typically purchased an analog copy of a musical video, album, or single from a traditional brick-and-mortar store. Music sales were dominated by sales of vinyl and compact disc (CD) albums. Today, the music industry is dominated by Internet sales of a variety of digital media objects related to musical works, which are typically accessed from online computer server systems. The digital media objects include digitized audio recordings, and may include additional media objects such as video recordings, song lyrics, cover and other album art, interviews with the artist, fan pictures, and so on. A consumer may purchase their own copy of a digital media object through an Internet service provider, such as Apple iTunes®, or may purchase access rights to a subscription service, such as Yahoo! Music Engine®. Alternatively, a consumer may access media objects which are freely available on the Internet, such as a promotional song on an artist's website, or access media objects supported by an alternative business model, such as by provider-included advertising.
Further, modern consumer preferences tend toward the purchase of individual songs and relative sales of musical albums have plummeted. In the typical transaction, the modern consumer is more likely to consider the unit of consumption as an individual song, equating the primary concept of a musical work as the concept of an individual song. The consumer seeks improved access to a plurality of songs, and to share his or her accessed songs with fellow consumers.
A first user sharing a song with a second network user may encounter difficulties. Typically, a consumer license for a digital media object related to a musical work does not allow direct transfers of that media object to other consumers. Instead, the second user typically must be provided with a reference to the media object, such as a linking URL, with the network location of a service provider or an accessible copy of the media object.
Further, there may be restrictions on the use of a copy of the media object, such as geographical limitations on copy consumers. For example, a first user in the United States might enjoy the song entitled “The Glamorous Life” as written by “Prince” and performed by the artist “Sheila E.” A second user in the United Kingdom may seek access to a copy of the same song. However, the second user may not be able to access the same copy of the media object as the first user. The second user might not be able to access the same servers as the first user, might not have the same subscription privileges as the first user, may have to seek a United Kingdom as opposed to a United States distributor, may be using a different media object player requiring a different format, and so on. The consumers seek improved means to locate and consume media objects related to songs on the Internet, and to share those media objects with other users, without the burden of managing various access protocols.
Typically, a user obtains each musical media object from a service provider on the web through the service provider's website. A user accessing a song may seek to access a song with similar characteristics. For example, a user of iTunes® may wish to listen to a second song by the artist “Sheila E.” Typically, the service provider's search engine will only show songs available on their website, and the user has a limited ability to find other related media objects available on the web. The user seeks an improved ability to search over a plurality of service provider websites.